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Teckwin Tecksmart UV flatbed printer showcases new ink technology |
Visit any leading tradeshow for the graphics and signage industries such as Fespa, SGIA, ISA, Photokina and Viscomm and you could be forgiven for thinking there were no analogue technologies left for printing and imaging.
Judging by the companies exhibiting and products on show, surely screen printing, conventional photography and offset printing must already be dead, put to the sword by digital technology?
A trip to Drupa, Print (Chicago) or IGAS (Tokyo) would partly reassure you by showing that offset is alive, well and growing. Also, many large graphic screen printers in Europe have already invested in wide-format offset printing or have given the matter serious consideration. Digitisation of pre-press and the ability of modern offset printing (with new UV-curable or heat-set inks) to print onto non-absorbent substrates, has opened new vistas for the technology.
It is true that conventional photography has suffered an extremely rapid demise at the hands of digital cameras and, latterly, the now not-so-humble mobile phone with built-in camera. Fuji, Kodak and Agfa have all migrated significant parts of their investment portfolio into digital printing and imaging or other frontier technologies.
Is screen printing dead?
For many industrial and textile applications, screen printing on a global scale continues to grow. Nonetheless, Western European manufacturers often wince when industrial manufacturing and printing capacity migrates to Asia or Eastern Europe and they lose hardware, ink and substrate sales to non-European competition.
In the graphics screen printing sector, forces for change are different. One could argue that conditions are actually tougher in Europe than most other world regions. The use of screen printing for graphics has been attacked at the top end (long runs) by the growing installed base of wide format offset machines and at the bottom end (short run) by the increasing capabilities and installed base of digital printing machines. In most other global regions, offset has not gained much market share and screen’s battle has been mainly with wide and grand format inkjet. At the same time in Europe, industry consolidation among corporations and advertisers has squeezed margins for imprinted graphics, and new advertising media such as the internet and digital displays are all fighting for their share of advertising budgets.
Screen certainly has suffered. The original European market-leading manufacturer of screen machines, Svecia, is no more. Some of the leading European ink, mesh and stencil companies have seen analogue sales fall and have needed to refocus or restructure their businesses. But is screen printing dead?
Actually no. There is still a huge market for screen printed graphics and a huge number of companies profitably serving those markets. The problem for manufacturers and suppliers to the screen printing industry is a different one: few European screen printing companies are investing in screen printing.
Ten years ago, investment decisions for graphic screen printing companies were often simpler: ‘Which brand and type of fully-automatic screen press should I buy’? Choices are more complex now: ‘Should we invest in offset printing, digital printing or a combination of offset and digital’? For most European companies, screen is no longer considered an investment opportunity with much prospect of a financial return.
The European screen printing industry probably produces 90 per cent as much graphics screen printing as it did five years ago, yet reading most journals and visiting trade shows, one might be forgiven for thinking that screen printing was on its last legs and everyone had converted to digital.
We have allowed ourselves and our customers to become the victims of the illusion of the death of screen printing, when the patient is not only alive but, despite highly competitive market conditions, relatively healthy at a printer level.
Market position
It is against this market background that Nazdar, the leading manufacturer and distributor of screen products in North America, finds itself more seriously entering the European screen printing and digital printing markets with a commitment to growing and supporting both these industry sectors.
Early in 2006, Nazdar acquired Lyson, the innovative manufacturer of digital printing inks based in Stockport, UK. Now the former Lyson site is known as Nazdar Ltd and the company has been investing in hiring key personnel, factory improvements, new manufacturing technology and research and development for novel digital inks. Operations director, Jamie Moores, said: “Our latest investment in production technology is new pigment milling equipment for producing finer dispersions for inkjet ink production, which is allowing us to manufacture digital inks to much higher tolerances and performance levels.”
Sales and marketing director, James MacDonald, added: “2006 was a busy year for us on the digital side. We had to integrate the digital ink portfolios of Nazdar and Lyson into a single best range under the Nazdar ‘Lyson’ brand, re-launch the brand, bring to market many new and innovative products and develop our European distribution network.”
Bearing in mind that Nazdar now manufacturers almost every kind of digital ink (aqueous, solvent-based, low-odour solvents, UV-curable, textile inks and speciality inks) this was no mean feat.
At the same time, other key Nazdar personnel were building the core business distribution of screen and digital products to European screen printers.
Area sales manager, Keith Ramsey, said: “The latest distributor to join the Nazdar fold was Seinse Kent in Spain. They are a very professional and dynamic company and we are excited to be working with them to grow our mutual screen and digital business in the Spanish market.”
Nazdar has a significant presence at Fespa Berlin as Keith Ramsey explained: “We particularly hope to attract interest from other ambitious screen distributors who feel that there are still growth opportunities in the screen printing market.”
Another reason for the presence is to show Nazdar’s increasing portfolio of digital ink products. The last six months has seen the launch of Nazdar’s Lyson 2000 series inks for Roland SolJet printers, the Lyson 1300 and 1000 series for the Mimaki JV-3 platforms, plus new aqueous and textile inkjet inks.
OEM & business development director for digital inks, Stewart Partridge, said: “One of the highlights for us is being able to demonstrate our latest inkjet technology, such as our latest UV-curable inks on the Teckwin Tecksmart UV flatbed printer. In North America, these inks are marketed under a Teckwin/Nazdar dual brand, which demonstrates the commitment of both companies to supporting their products in the market. Our other existing OEM relationships are totally confidential, so it is good for once to be able to show the market that Nazdar manufactures UV-curable inkjet inks with high colour gamut and superior flexibility and adhesion.”
Nazdar firmly believes that the market for UV-curable inkjet printers and inks will continue to grow and that new flatbed and hybrid printer platforms are very complimentary for screen printers, allowing them to be more responsive to their customers needs.
Stewart Partridge added: “It would be churlish of us not to admit that our competitors have not done a great deal to help develop the digital market, particularly in respect of more environmentally-friendly UV-curable inkjet inks. We respect these companies and others as professional competitors, but we certainly don’t fear them. Our ink technology today is competitive with the very best on the market, and we are building a service and support structure to ensure that our future customers are well looked after.”
With the right products, service and support, Nazdar is looking forward to helping build the digital printing market and be a defender of those faithful to screen printing. In the USA, Nazdar’s consultancy services division provides screen printers with services ranging from business, software and planning consultancy through to machine set-up and custom profiles.
Screen printing is still the most versatile analogue printing technology on planet earth. Combining that technology with modern versatile inkjet systems can give a print production company an enormous competitive advantage in what are sometimes volatile market conditions.
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